Etihad Airways has just cut some services from its cheapest business class fares, as flagged by Vielfliegertreff. Or in airline speak, Etihad is “giving customers more choice.” 😉
Etihad cuts perks from cheapest business class fares
For tickets booked as of March 4, 2025, Etihad Airways has made changes to its cheapest business class fares. Like most airlines, Etihad has bundles of business class fares, with the hierarchy being Value, then Comfort, then Deluxe.
For those booking the cheapest Business Value fares, Etihad has made three significant changes:
- These fares no longer include free lounge access
- These fares no longer include free seat assignments
- These fares are no longer refundable for a fee
Later this year (a date hasn’t yet been announced), Etihad reportedly plans to add some new perks to its most expensive Business Deluxe fares. For these fares, the airline plans to introduce free Wi-Fi, plus chauffeur service at outstations (it’s currently only offered in Abu Dhabi).
Upselling is the name of the game…
When airlines cut perks from the lowest fares in a cabin, they love to describe it as giving passengers more choice and value. Of course that’s not actually the case. Instead, the idea is to try to get consumers to spend more than they’d otherwise spend for their ticket, as it’s essentially a form of drip pricing.
For example, take the above itinerary from New York to Abu Dhabi. It’s not like the Business Value fare is actually cheap — it’s around $7,000 roundtrip. But the logic here is simple, as the airline wants an extra $124 in revenue from each passenger, in order to get what they’d otherwise have included.
In fairness to Etihad, the airline is simply matching its Gulf rivals here. Both Emirates and Qatar Airways have “basic” business class fares, which also don’t include things like seat assignments and lounge access. So it’s not like Etihad is innovating here, but rather, the airline is following.
Bottom line
Etihad has made some changes to its Business Value fares. These fares no longer include seat assignments and lounge access, and are no longer refundable. I guess I can’t blame Etihad, given that Emirates and Qatar Airways do the same. However, this isn’t a very customer friendly move.
What do you make of Etihad’s changes to Business Value fares?
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